Bangladesh`s ex-Army chief to face trial in graft cases

Former Bangladeshi Army chief Harunur Rashid was sent behind the bars along with two other persons to face trial in major money laundering cases.

Dhaka: Former Bangladeshi Army chief Harunur Rashid was on Thursday sent behind the bars along with two other persons to face trial in major money laundering cases.

"Senior Special Judge Md Zahirul Haque ordered General Rashid and two other Destiny Group officials including its Managing Director Mohammad Rafiqul Amin to be sent behind the bar rejecting their bail petition," a court official familiar with the process said. Rashid, currently chairman of the Destiny group, appeared in the dock weeks after the same court overturned their bail orders and four others issued earlier by a subordinate court for their alleged involvement in siphoning out Taka 3,285.26 crore by cheating investors. He was seeking fresh bail in two money laundering cases. In a related development, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed petition before another court seeking Rashid and the two others to be remanded in their custody to be interrogated for 20 days in two cases. "The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Dhaka will hear the (remand) petitions later in the day," an official of the court told newsmen. Reports of massive irregularities in the business group earlier this year prompted different government agencies and the ACC to launch investigations against the Destiny’s "shadow business" in the name of multilevel marketing company (MLM) and cooperative societies. Rashid, a 1971 Liberation War veteran who served as the army chief in late 1990s, joined the Destiny as its ornamental chairman several years ago. PTI